Animal world "Unicorns of the seas" use their tusks for hunting
The tusks of narwhals have inspired myths, and in the Middle Ages they were sold as unicorn horns. The real purpose of the teeth is not fully understood. A research team observed how they use the tooth for hunting and playing.
02.03.2025, 05:43
SDA
Narwhals (Monodon monoceros) live all year round in the waters of the high Arctic, north of the Arctic Circle. Due to their remote habitat, observations of the four to five meter long animals - without twisted teeth up to three meters long - are rare. One thing is clear: almost only males have a tusk, which is an enlarged canine tooth of the upper jaw - females rarely have a tusk. The animals can use it to detect chemical changes in their environment.
Now a US-Canadian research team, in collaboration with Inuit communities in Nunavut, has succeeded in observing narwhals in the wild using drones. They saw how the whales explored, pursued and also struck fish with their tusks, as if to stun them. Sometimes, however, they just played with the fish, the group writes in the journal "Frontiers in Marine Science". "Perhaps the whales were simply not hungry."
The narwhals showed remarkable dexterity, precision and speed with their tusks, according to the researchers. "I've been studying narwhals for over a decade and have always admired their tusks," explained co-author Cortney Watt. Now being able to take a bird's eye view to see the animals hunting from above provides interesting insights.
Also helpful for competition for females
In a study published in 2020, another research team had already been able to prove that narwhals also use their tusks to court females. In encounters between males, they acted as a dominance signal, along the lines of "I'm bigger than you".
Narwhals are also known for a behavior that resembles a sword fight. "Two or more of them simultaneously raise their tusks almost vertically out of the water and cross them, possibly in a ritualistic behavior to assess the qualities of a potential opponent," says Greg O'Corry-Crowe from the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute in Florida. Perhaps it is also about showing one's own qualities to potential partners.
In any case, the researchers write that further studies are needed to investigate the behavior of the highly sociable narwhals. Little is also known about their social and reproductive behavior - and also about how the animals adapt to the increasingly ice-free Arctic.
